Thursday, March 28, 2013

Why Many People No Longer Pray or Ask or Believe For Miracles

This will be a work in progress, I will add to it in time.

Many people say:

"God does not answer my prayers"

or

"God breaks His promises, they don't apply to me"

or

"I tried praying and it didn't work"

or

"God seems to enjoy punishing me"

or

"Many bad things have happened to me, God wouldn't let bad things happen to good people"

How do we begin to understand these statements in light of what the Lord told us?

We can begin with the story of Job:

Job 1:1In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.2He had seven sons and three daughters, 3and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Read that ^^ and if you don't know the story of Job go grab your Bible and read it, its important.  Was Job a good man?  Yes.  Read how the Lord describes Job, do we consider ourselves to be better men or women than Job?  Probably not.  And look what happened to Job...Of particular note is this statement:


He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.


Now think about that.  Would any of us consider ourselves to be the greatest person in the north or south or east or west?  No.  So think about how far Job had to fall.  If you are already skimming the bottom and you hit the bottom you really didn't take much of a drop.  If you are riding the heights of the heavens and you are brought to rock bottom that is quite a fall.  That's what happened to Job.  And yet, what was Job's reaction?


20At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.c
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.


Was Job a great man.  Yes, he was VERY great.  Who among us could take a vertical free fall like that, smack the ground with a thud then get right up and worship the Lord?  Notice the Lord's comment on this:

22In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Do bad things happen to good people?  Yes.  Did the Lord ever promise any of us an easy ride into eternity?  No.  Some of the greatest. most righteous and sinless men went through absolute HELL and in spite of it all held onto their faith and did not charge the Lord with wrongdoing.  Please understand this writer absolutely trembles at the story of Job and the bad things that have happened over and over again to some of the greatest saints to ever walk this earth.  This brother has been shown his own weakness by up close and personal inspection and I am in awe of my own weakness.  Just think about what Job went through, he lost sons and daughters and wealth and stature and respect, his health, sound mind and peace, he lost EVERYTHING, and yet look at how he responded.

Who among us has been through a "Job experience" and responded like he did.  Who among us had that much greatness and took that kind of fall and responded the way Job did?  I dare say none of us.  We all have tribulation and we all have hard times but lets compare what we have been through to what some of the greatest saints went through then recalculate how good the Lord has been to us.

Recently the Lord performed another miracle in this brother's life but part of that process was being drug down to the bottom of a very dark place, to the depths of despair where my faith was tested like it never has been before.  While I was at the very bottom the enemy spoke to me and told me exactly what Job's wife told him "curse God and die."  Thanks be to God that moment was brief and the Lord enabled me to quickly recover from it but I can tell you I did not think I could be brought to such a place and I was taken there.  It happened in a flash and what we decide in those moments of testing makes all the difference.

Another thing that happened when I was dragging the bottom is the enemy and my flesh wanted to install a "root of bitterness" within me.  That comes from asking "why?" over and over again.


... you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root
of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.


Once we allow a root of bitterness to grow inside us what happens?  It causes trouble and it defiles many (you and those around you).  How?  How can you hold onto faith and bitterness at the same time?  What happens to your testimony when a root of bitterness is poisoning your words?

Often when you listen carefully to what someone says when they are telling you how "God does not answer prayer" or any of the other statements at the top of this post, you will detect that root of bitterness has taken hold within them.

to be continued..

























Tuesday, March 26, 2013

March 25, 2013 Miracle Baby Born

The Lord delivered the miracle yesterday afternoon, how did it feel?  You can imagine.  Once again the Lord came through at just the right time.  I admit the timing is beyond what I asked for or wanted but looking at it objectively He did right and I am very very thankful.

This miracle birth process was a battle.  I still feel beat up from the daily struggle of asking, seeking, knocking and holding on.  I knew with certainty He would answer me but I did not know when and in this case 'when' was a very big deal.  Why don't I say what the miracle was?  Because it doesn't matter for the purpose of writing this.  Your miracle and answer to prayer is going to be different than mine and this is written for you.  If the least among the brothers can see multiple miracles and an unending string of answered prayers so can you.  That is why this is written.

One of the important pieces to believing for answered prayer and/or miracles is understanding the Lord's love for us.  Consider:

Psalm 32 8I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you...Does it make a difference that He who will deliver our miracle also loves us beyond what we can imagine?  Yes.  He knows how much we can handle.  He knows when we are despairing to the point of death.  He knows and understands and that does make a difference.  He loves us, He knows and understands but He still does things according to His timing.  We will have to be patient, persistent, and willing to fight to see our prayers answered and miracles birthed.

Why does it always have to be a fight?  We are in a spiritual war as long as we live on this earth.  The stakes are life and death both physically and spiritually.  We battle ourselves, the world and the devil but we have a resource that completely outdoes all of them:  The Lord.  If God is for you who can stand against you?

The Lord brought me through this particular miracle with struggle and pain and bruises to share with you that you too can see your prayers answered and miracles realized but there is a cost.  It won't be easy.  The Lord never promised us an easy ride into the kingdom of heaven.  What did He tell us?

John 16:33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  Never before have I seen so many people struggling and in despair.  We have entered a very dark hour for this world but we are not without hope.  Be of good cheer, our Lord has overcome the world.

If you are reading this you have been prayed for.  I pray that the Lord will grant you wisdom and strength and that He will add to your faith today so you can believe for the answers you need today and in the days ahead.

May the Lord grace and peace be upon you.



Sunday, March 24, 2013

Miracles-The Baby Is Crowning

Seeing a miracle happen in your life is very similar to pregnancy and birth of a child.  The child in this case is your miracle.  In my case the similarities with birth are really striking because the conception of this miracle actually started around 9 months ago.  Now the baby is crowning.

Over the past few days the Lord has exercised the power of his arm on my behalf and a major push forward occurred two days ago.  I expect full birth either tomorrow or shortly in the days ahead.  I wanted to write about this to capture the internal feelings and thinking occurring within me at this stage.

In one way I feel like a fighter in his last round.  I feel exhausted, humbled, tired, glad, hopeful, joyful and beat up all at the same time.  This writer has experienced many miracles but this one was the most taxing.  It has been written on the other blog (Christian Apostasy) that this writer has his prayers answered all the time. I almost regret writing that because although it is true the statement is too simple.  Sometimes the answer is no, sometimes the answer is wait, and sometimes the answer is yes or a combination the three.

We serve a God who loves us and wants us to pray.  He tells us to pray for a reason, so we (or others) can receive answers.  I think when people pray and do not get what they want when they want it they walk away and say "God doesn't answer my prayers."  That is the saddest thing other than eternal death.  When a person quits on God or prayer how can they get the miracles they need?  How can they get the answers they need?

I understand in part why they quit.  They do not see the entire picture.  Do they understand that to quit on the source of miracles is to cast themselves on the 'mercy' of the world?  Is the world or men or the devil going to get you your miracle?  No.  The world and men cannot offer you miracles because they have no power to work miracles.  The devil can work miracles but the price is your soul.  No thanks.

This miracle has felt like a battle from the beginning but here at the end its taken everything I had to hang on. Every ounce of faith was needed to see this thing to the point of crowning, and its not quite over yet.  The purpose in writing this is to share something, anything that might light the spark of faith for your answered prayer and/or miracle.  All it takes is a spark to light a raging fire.  The Lord provides the raging fire if you provide the spark.  If the enemy or your own weakness or doubt or whatever blows the spark away then create another spark.  Ask yourself, do I believe the Lord can do this?  If your answer is yes, there is your spark.  Ask yourself do I believe the Lord will do this?  If your answer is yes, thats another spark.  Has the Lord done anything good for you in the past?  If your answer is yes that is another spark.

If you create enough spark you will ignite the fire that will produce your miracle.  The Lord compares miracle power of faith to a mustard seed:

Luke 17:6He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

Was the Lord joking? No.  Storytelling?  No.  He was serious.

When you feel like you are dragging along the bottom of a lake in despair, cry out for help.  Cry out non stop.  Lord, HELP ME.  Don't give up.


The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and
continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.


As a military guy I think about a commander on the field who is hopelessly outnumbered but has a radio to call for airstrikes and artillery.  He calls once and gets no answer or gets static.  Does that commander roll over and play dead or keep calling?  He has the power at his finger tips to literally bring down wrath of God type destruction on the enemy but if he does not get through the first time HE NEEDS TO KEEP TRYING. Its the difference between life and death both for that commander and for many of us.

The Lord is not deaf, He is not hard of hearing, He is not blind and He loves us.  Does He know your situation inside and out?  Yea, but He set up the rules of this life to force us to do things His way.  His way is not the easy way.  Jesus proved that on the cross.  Look what had to be done for us, the Son of God sacrificed for our sins.  He requires faith of us.  He requires patience and obedience and the willingness to fight.

Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Cowards aren't going to make it in guys.  I've had my share of fear but what is courage?  Courage is staying in the fight in spite of your fear.  It is not the absence of fear.

This writer would like to encourage you today to stay in the fight.  I am the least of the brothers and sisters who are in Christ so if I can see miracles and answers to prayer so can you.  The Lord chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong.


... But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God
chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong.


If weak and foolish do not sum up this writers past I don't know what does.  Take courage today and lift your head up.  Wipe the tears from your eyes and renew your strength in the Lord.  Read the Word which is your bread.  Every Word from the Father is our food to eat.  Food makes the body strong.  Cry out to the Lord non-stop.  Petition Him day and night.  Enlist anyone who prays to take up your burden with you and carry the load to the Father's feet.

Last but certainly not least ask the Lord for His guidance for your situation.  Ask Him to lead you to who, what and where you need to be.  Ask Him to let you know if you are on the wrong track and to assist you to get on the right track.  Ask Him for the wisdom to know His will and the strength to do it.  Men, cannot help you with these ^^ things, only the Lord can.

Take heart, keep the faith and hold on.  If you want me to pray with you to help carry the burden, submit a comment for moderation with your contact info (it wont be published) and I will help you carry the load to the Lord.

grace and peace





















Saturday, March 23, 2013

Prayer/Miracles: Waiting Is The Hardest Part

If we want to see our prayers answered we have to learn how to wait.  Why do so many people believe the Lord does not answer prayer?  One reason is they are not willing to wait for the Lord's timing for their answer.

Is there anything we can do to make the waiting less painful?  Yes, encourage yourself in the Word.  Feed on the living Word of God.  Go to an online bible and type in "wait" in the search box and read every reference to that word.

What you will find are things like this:

Psalm 2713I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

You will see this is a common theme throughout the Bible.  It goes well beyond your prayer request or miracle.  It reaches all the way to the salvation of your soul.


it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD

and
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.



This waiting on the Lord thing is a really big deal.  Waiting is not easy but feeding on the Word that specifically addresses waiting on the Lord does help.

This writer has been given the faith to believe in miracles.  It is one of my gifts and I can tell you it is not easy for this writer to wait for the Lord's answers to prayers or miracles.  If you are experiencing pain while you are waiting, know that you are not alone.  I would encourage you to hold on for one more day.  Each day brings its own strength and hope with it.

It has been my experience that the mornings are hopeful and I feel stronger and the evenings are more depressing.  Hold on for the next morning, the next refreshing and recharging of your hope.  Life is about constant change.  If you are dragging along the bottom now realize I have been there too and constant change means you will not stay there.

Ask for the Lord's help.  Hold onto faith and hope even while facing the impossible.  Its not you who will bring to pass the miracle power, you just activate that power by your faith.  Faith is like an ingredient that makes concrete or glue set.  It is like the little spark that sets an entire forest on fire.  It is the little atom in the atom bomb.  If you have even faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains:


... "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed," the Lord said, "you can say to this
mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.


Keep the spark of faith alive and your answer or miracle has a chance of seeing the light of day.  All it takes is a spark of faith to ignite your entire miracle.  Stay with it.  If the wind is howling and threatening to put out your spark then guard it.  Do not let your little spark go out.  Hold on, hang on, don't give up.  Seek the Lord, bring His promises to Him in prayer, encourage yourself in the Lord, ask Him for His tender mercy and loving kindness.  He knows how weak we are.  He knows how much we can handle.  Sometimes it may feel like you are at your breaking point but just hang on.  You will see your answer if you don't give up.

grace and peace














Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Encouragement For the Days Ahead

We don't have to worry about the days ahead.  We know what is happening in the world and we know what men say about the situation but what does the Lord say?  Really, that's all that counts.


Psalm 37:18The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20But the wicked will perish:
Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.


Is disaster coming to the world?  Yes.  Should we worry? No.  What does the Word say? 19In times of disaster they will not wither;

Is famine coming to the world?  Yes.  Should we worry? No.  What does the Word say?  in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

Those are promises that are worth more than gold.  How will we survive as the world spirals out of control?  By the promises and by faith.


Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God,
because "the righteous will live by faith."



Today is the day we absolutely must live by faith.  If you have not been doing it start now.  By our faith we will stand or fall.  By our faith we will eat or starve.  By our faith we will live or die.  Our faith is the great prize.  Satan is after it, the Lord is after it and we need to be after it.  If you lack faith pray for more.  Ask, seek, knock and the door will be opened to you.

Don't give up guys.  If the only way you can move forward in faith today is to crawl, then do that. If you can only take one baby step forward in faith today then do that.  Something is better than nothing.  Stay in the fight, do not quit, do not give up.  Lift up your chin and pray to the Father who loves you.  If you stay in the fight your eyes will look in victory on the situations around you.  Hold on to the promises by faith and be patient.  That's all you have to do.  It won't be easy but it will be worth it.

grace and peace










Saturday, March 16, 2013

Believing For a Miracle-You Don't Have To Understand it


Prov 3:5Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.a



Stop trying to figure your miracle out.  You don't have to understand the details that will go into making your miracle happen.  You don't have to strive with the Lord either, just submit to Him and He will  make your path straight.

Some people just can't rest until they figure everything out.  I can tell you that you probably will not figure out how the Lord is going to make your miracle or answered prayer happen.  Did Israel ever figure out how God parted the Red Sea so they could cross over on dry land?  Did the siblings of Lazarus ever figure out how the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead?  Stop trying to figure it out you are just wearying yourself.

Just let go and rest.  Let go of "how" the Lord is going to do it because you are not going to figure it out.  That's why its a miracle, you need the Lord to act.  If you could have sorted out your own situation you already would have so let the Lord do what He does and only He can do.

Just rest in the Lord.  Trust Him, don't try to figure it out and watch what happens.  You won't be disappointed.

grace and peace




Believing For a Miracle-You Don't Have to Like It

Instead of continually adding to the walking in miracles post, I will add new posts related to walking in miracles as they come to me.

The main Miracle post is here.

This one is really important and cannot be overlooked.  When you are believing for your miracle and the Lord is delaying, and delaying and delaying some more, you don't have to like it.  You do not have to be happy about it.  Your faith is being tested and it probably won't be a pleasant experience.  But guess what, its okay that you  are not happy about it.  It is okay that you  don't like it.

Just be careful not to become bitter, not to walk away and give up, not to abort your faith for your miracle.  Nobody said this would be easy.  Nobody said you would like or enjoy the process, but if you need your miracle you need to tough it out and hold on in spite of your feelings.  I am in the midst of believing for a miracle right now and it seems like its taking forever for it to happen.  That said, I am 100% certain that my answer is coming, I just have to wait for it and waiting is the hardest part.  I don't like waiting, I don't enjoy it and I am not happy about it but I do understand the Lord is using this inner hardship to shape and mold me for the days ahead.

Initial training for the SEALS, SF, SAS you name it, it is not fun.  Its like getting kicked between the legs over and over again but it is necessary.  The hard road the Lord leads us down (sometimes) is not fun but it is necessary.  He knows what His plans are for us and He knows what we need in the days ahead.  Knowing what we need, He prepares us beforehand.

The goal of all this is to walk with the Lord on the water like Peter did.  He is teaching us what it means to walk on the water with Him.  We must keep our eyes on the master and not on the wind and waves.  Dark days are coming for this world.  How much of that darkness we will walk through before Jesus takes his Bride home is anyone's guess.  In order to walk the way we need to we have to endure the hardship of the training.  You may not like it, you may not enjoy it, you may not be happy about it and that is okay.  In spite of your feelings be careful to hold onto your faith, know that your answer is coming, know that on the day it manifests the weight you feel like you have been carrying around will drop right off your shoulders instantly.

The Lord knows how much we can take without breaking.  He understands us better than we understand ourselves.  It won't be easy but we have to fight.  We cannot lay down and let our miracle wash out to sea like the outgoing tide because we didn't feel like fighting anymore.  The life of a soldier is not easy and we are called to be soldiers


Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus


Just realize this, when you feel like the Lord is dragging His feet and delaying your answer beyond what you think is reasonable, stop thinking.  The Lord is a God of perfect timing even if we don't like the timing He chooses while we are waiting for it.  I can tell you this, I have experienced many miracles in my life and never once have I ever been disappointed on the day I received my miracle.  If we will hold on we will not be disappointed.  Keep your chin up, hold onto your faith, release any expectations of when you think the Lord should act for you.  Let go and let God handle it.  Play your part (believe) and let the Lord play His part, you won't be disappointed I assure you.

Each day when you wake up it could be the day you received your answer.  Wait in expectation of what the Lord will do and if today is not the day do not despair.  Tomorrow may be the day.  Take the days one at a time.  Remember the Lord's prayer "our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name.  May thy kingdom come and thy will be done here on earth just as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread....

He feeds us a day at a time.  He did it with manna in the wilderness and He does it with us now.  Tomorrow is the Lord's problem to figure out not yours, give it over to Him.  The Lord will provide.  When you are suffering through your waiting just realize that you are not alone.  If you are reading this and in the process of waiting then we stand together.  You know that your brothers and sisters out there are going through the same thing you are.

Keep the faith, don't give up.  You don't have to like the process but you do have to endure it.  Ask any special forces soldier if he enjoyed the process of becoming and elite soldier.  If he is honest he will tell you most of it was like getting kicked between the legs but those that make it keep their eye on the prize, the end goal, the result.  It is no different for us, we are soldiers.  Keep your eye on the prize and endure the process.  If you don't give up you will be able to jump and shout in victory when you cross the finish line and get your prize.  It will happen for you just hang on.

grace and peace










Tuesday, March 12, 2013

It Does Not Fear When Heat Comes


Jeremiah 17:5This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”


Here the Lord puts in stark contrast benefits and punishments.  Note with me the highlighted portion at the bottom.  We who are in right standing with the Lord are like trees planted by the water.  When the heat comes its leaves are always green.  Do you see the world heating up around us?  I'm seeing leaves turning brown on some of the trees around me but thanks be to God this writer's leaves are still green.  Do you see a world plagued with drought?  I do but why worry?  We should never fail to bear fruit.

Are these just words or does the Lord mean what He said?  He meant it.  This writer's testimony to you is I see this in my own life.  Is this recent?  No, I've seen this for over 20 years.  Over and over and over again the Lord has provided.  Why did the Lord writer this to us?  He wrote it with a purpose, to encourage us.

This writer would like to encourage you today with the testimony that the Lord is no respecter of persons.  What has been done for me can and will be done for you.  The Lord is faithful, he is full of loving kindness and tender mercies.


... O continue your loving kindness to them that know you; and
your righteousness to the upright in heart. ...
//bible.cc/psalms/36-10.htm - 17k
... How excellent is your loving kindness, O God! ... How precious is your loving kindness,
God! The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings. ... 



... Surround me with your tender mercies so I may live,
for your instructions are my delight. ...
//bible.cc/psalms/119-77.htm - 17k
... LORD, don't hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your
unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me. ...
//bible.cc/psalms/40-11.htm - 17k
... The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works



... He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. .... ...
//bible.cc/psalms/103-4.htm - 17k
... Hear me, O LORD; for your lovingkindness is good: turn unto me
according to the multitude of your tender mercies.


Hold on, drive your roots deeper if you are feeling the heat.  Lay hold of His promises and take them to the Lord in prayer.

grace and peace











Monday, March 11, 2013

If You Are In Need of Prayer

If you have a need and want to share the burden of carrying it to the Lord post a comment on what your need is.  Since comments are moderated I will not post your prayer request as a comment but will use the comment mechanism to enable me to know what your need is.

If you want me to acknowledge that I received it or want me to check in with you leave me your email address and I will get back to you as time permits.

The Lord has brought this to my heart:

Gal 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

I have been praying for others but the instruction I have received from the Lord is to reach out further.

grace and peace

Friday, March 8, 2013

Psalm 34 Encouragement

The Lord gives us patterns throughout His Word to show us how things work.  We find one such pattern in Psalm 34:


Psalm 34:1I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

What is the pattern?  Bless, praise and give glory first, then present requests and see deliverance.  Do you see it?

Praise here:


Psalm 34:1I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.


Requests and Deliverance here:


4I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.


Do we see this pattern anywhere else in the Word?  Yes:

Phil 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What do we see^^?  Rejoice...first.  Then we see asking by prayer and petition with thanksgiving.

Your praise, and rejoicing and thanksgiving are like incense that sweetens the smell of the throne room and prepares it for the delivery of your requests to the King.

... stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers
of all the saints
, on the golden altar before the throne.



The Lord has given us a 'how to' now we just have to follow the pattern He has given us to be successful.  This is not a mathematical formula where if you get one thing wrong the whole thing falls apart.  The Lord supports us in our weakness, we have an intercessor named Jesus Christ the King of Kings and we have a counselor named the Holy Spirit to help us.  With all that help we should be encouraged to fight on, to continue to get up and struggle through the ups and downs of our daily walk knowing that if we hold on we will see our victory.  Just hold on!  Don't give up.

grace and peace










Believing For A Miracle





As things in this world get worse by the day, many need people will need a miracle just to survive.  The Bible is full of miracles, are they a fabrication or were they real?  This brother has experienced many miracles personally which allows me to offer a testimony that supports the fact that the miracles written of throughout the bible are real.

Are miracles possible today?  For me?  For you? We already answered that.  Either the miracles in the bible happened or they didn't.  Either Gods Word is true or it is not.  We need to settle for ourselves what we believe and stand on it immovable.  What we believe determines what happens in our life.  If what we believed did not matter our faith for salvation would be foolish wouldn't it?  What we believe matters.

Faith

Casting down unbelief.  Mark 5, casting out demons, sick recovering, dead come to life, woman with the issue of blood.  Your faith has made you whole.  Believe He is God.    The tragedy for many is when they believe the Lord works somewhere else in someone else but He wont do it for them.  Why not for you?  Why won't the Lord work where you are?  No faith?  A whole generation today acknowledge Jesus as a great man who did great things but they do not acknowledge Him as God.  They no longer believe He can perform miracles, they dont even believe He answers prayer!   If we do not believe what He said, if we do not let Him be the God of the impossible, how will we ever see answers?  ...and He could do no mighty works because of their unbelief.


... So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief


Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.


Hebrews 4:6 
... Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom
it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief


Matt 13:58 
And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

Christ stood in their midst and they did not receive because of unbelief.  They were hopeless people.  He marveled at their unbelief.

Why can't God do this in my life?  He can, believe.  Take Him at His Word.  Just have faith.  God is able, He is still on the throne!  Wherever the Lord is moving elsewhere He can and will move where you are if there is faith.  There has to be something in the heart that says "I believe God."  God is no respecter of persons if He did it for someone else He will do it for you.  Claim the promises for yourself.  Don't be satisfied with what God is doing elsewhere, believe for it here.  Set your mind and set your heart without faith it is impossible to please God.  He is looking for people who will trust Him in any situation, in any crisis.

Look back at what God has done and believe for what He is doing.  Lay hold of faith.  The devil watches and listens closely.  As soon as he hears murmuring and complaining and words of unbelief he takes advantage of that.  The devil is determined to rob our faith.  The devil is the father of all lies.  He targets the true believer with the most venomous of all his lies.  One of the biggest lie is you are too weak for spiritual warfare/battle.  The enemy comes with silky smooth voice when you feel down and weak.  He will cause weakness then tell you you are too tired to fight.  He is after your faith to rob you of your faith.  The devil has come to physically weary the saints.  Don't listen to the lie of the enemy.  Yes there is tiredness and weakness but shut the lies out and believe for the Lord's strength.  Don't complain, don't repeat the lies of the devil.  Fight, vocalize your victory.

Another lie, you are not making spiritual progress.  You are not growing you are not where you should be.  Don't compare yourself to others and dont measure yourself.  Leave your growth up to the Lord.  I believe in the God of the impossible.

One thing we can give God till our dieing day and thats our trust and confidence.  God wants simple determined faith and confidence in His Word.  Faith is the key ingredient to your miracle, hold onto it and fight for it at all costs.  When your faith seems low, ask for more hold on and fight through it the Lord will provide where you are lacking if you don't give up.

Patience

Hebrews 6:12 
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through
faith and patience inherit what has been promised


The Bible promises many things, and how do we inherit those promises?  Through faith and patience...


The Lord Does All the Heavy Lifting

We play a small but important part in our miracle, we have faith.  Faith is something that can be built up and strengthened:

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you
were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.


But remember who is actually wielding the miracle power.  Remember you only play a small part in your miracle but you do play a part.  Play your small part and the Lord will work out His large part.

No Formula-Its not about being perfect or following a formula to the letter.  Do the things you know to do.  Do the things you remember to do.  Exert yourself but do not worry about following a formula.  What happened with Peter walking on the water?  Jesus told him to come out and he did.  Peter did not walk on water perfectly but the Lord grabbed his hand and kept him from slipping below the waves.

Sin-Unrepentant sin can get in the way.  Sin that you ask forgiveness for from the heart, He is faithful to forgive immediately so do not let the enemy lie to you and tell you your sin is getting in the way of your miracle if you have asked forgiveness for it and truly are repentant.

The Enemy-will attack you all along the way.

Focus On The Solution-Jesus and Peter walking on water is an example of this.


Matt 14:25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

When Peter took his eyes off the solution (Jesus) and focused on the problem (the wind) he began to sink.  Keep your eyes on the solution.


What Does the Word Say?
Do not consult the flesh, do not take counsel from your fears, do not take counsel from the enemy.  Where is your miracle coming from?  From the Lord, so take counsel from His Word.  What does the Word say about your miracle, about His promises, about your situation?  When you find the promises take them before the Lord and stand on them.  Stand firm before the Lord in what you believe.  We can stand firmly because we stand on what He already said!

Feed Your Faith (By Hearing)

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Find a servant of God you can listen to who you believe is led by the Spirit and feed on faith filled words.  The internet has resources, free mp3 and videos you can feed yourself with.  This one is very important because many days you will not feel like reading the Bible or praying or doing anything else that is helpful.  What can you do?  Sit there like a sponge and soak in the Word of God by allowing someone else to feed it to you.

Always Approach the Lord With A Promise

Legally speaking the Lord is not bound to respond to your emotional appeals or cries (although He does anyway many times) but He is bound to watch over His Word to perform it.

We bring the promises to the Lord in faith not only to remind Him of what He already said (the Bible is full of examples of men of faith doing this) but also to convince ourselves.
... Then said Jehovah unto me, Thou hast well seen:
for I watch over my word to perform it.


Always bring His Word back to Him so He is bound to perform it.  This is not 'forcing' the hand of the Lord per se but rather doing what He told us to do.  I feel weird about any idea of trying to strong arm the Lord but when He tells us to do something we should do it.  He is telling us to find His promises, claim them for ourselves and stand on them until we see them fulfilled in our lives.  He watches over His Word for this very purpose.

What else does He say about this?

Isaiah 55:11 "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

The promises He has given us are not empty.  They were given for a purpose and they will achieve that purpose if we will do what He told us to do, combine them with faith.  The promises combined with faith are spiritual dynamite.  They have explosive power we just have to have the patience to see the reaction occur before our eyes.

Legal Precedents

What has the Lord done in the past and what has He promised?  If He did it in the past He will do it again.  If He did it for someone else He will do it for you.  The Lord can be held to His Word, He encourages us to hold Him to His Word so when we step out of the boat onto the water to walk on water with Jesus we can count on Him to not allow us to sink.  Remember, when Peter looked at the wind and his faith faltered Jesus scolded him for doubting but He did not allow Peter to sink down below the waves...He grabbed him and pulled him up.  What a loving and merciful God we serve.

Believe That You Have Received

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe
that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Self explanatory right?  Once again this is about standing firm in faith until you see your miracle/deliverance/answer to prayer.

There Is Nowhere Else To Turn

When the enemy drags you down into the pit of despair and tells you his lies, remember: if we give up on the only source of miracles (the Lord) we have nowhere else to turn.  Is the world or the enemy going to give you your miracle?  No, they will offer you lies and death.  If makes things easy when you have nowhere else to turn.  Either we stand on our faith or we will not stand at all.

Isaiah 7:9 
... If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'

Remember the Israelites before they crossed the Red Sea.  Before them they had an impassable sea and behind them they had the Egyptian army, what choice do they have other than crying out to God?  And what was the result?  Deliverance..

Shorten Your View Of the Future-give the Lord your tomorrows.  Moment to moment dependence.

Navy SEAL training/special forces etc.  The only way most of the guys survive initial training to get into the teams is by taking the hellish days moment by moment.  They do not entertain thoughts of failure and they do not think about how much more hell they have to endure.  They just focus on the moment and conquer the moments one at a time.

Dog training, how to train a dog not to pull on the leash?  Train them to keep their eyes on you by starting and stopping and every time they are watching you to see what you are doing they get a tiny reward.  The key is the dog gets rewarded for moment by moment checking to see what the master is doing and saying..

Don't Impose Deadlines On The Lord

The Lord seems to prefer to work your miracle at the last possible moment, or after what you think is the last possible moment.  Consider:


1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

When you read the rest of the story you see that Jesus waited so He could perform a miracle.  He raised Lazarus from the dead.

38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40Then Jesus said, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”


Our faith is being tested in this life and during the waiting period of our miracles.  The Lord wants to know that we are willing to wait however long it takes, in faith, for Him to work on our behalf.  When we do not impose deadlines on the Lord we let go and let God do what only He can do.  When we do set deadlines almost always we are setting ourselves up for failure.  The Lord is looking for open ended faith, not conditional faith.  Remember, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done?"

Don't Abort Your Miracle

This thing you are believing for is like a baby within you.  You can abort it through unbelief, unrepentant sin, or just giving up.  There are many similarities to pregnancy.  For example, I believe today the miracle I have been pregnant with just broke water.  I do not see the hard evidence of the miracle yet but as of today something changed within me that was like a light switch flipping on or like breaking water during childbirth.  I know that I know that I know without any doubt that it is close to complete.  It was like putting on a new pair of sunglasses in that I see everything now through a "post miracle" lens.  A corner has been turned.  I am using words to try to describe something that happens inside.

Let me say this is not a formula and each person is so incredibly unique that the Lord's way of dealing with you is likely not the way He deals with me but some things will be the same.  This awkward attempt at sharing with you this writer's journey is here because I was told to put it here otherwise I would not attempt to explain something like this.

Stay pregnant with your miracle until it is delivered in your sight.  Do not give up, do not get discouraged, do not accept the enemy's lies.  Hold on and in due time, after the season the Lord has set for your delivery you will see with your own eyes what you have been waiting for.


Think Bigger Than Yourself

Your miracle, when you get it is going to benefit more than just you.  Remember after you receive you now have a testimony that benefits others..So when you are suffering through your waiting remember your work of faith will benefit more than just you.  Believe for your miracle not just for yourself but also for those who will benefit from your testimony.  Words carry power, your testimony carries power.  Who knows how your encouragement to others might work out for them.  Believing and sticking to your faith might mean the difference between life and death in someone else's life when you share your true testimony with them.

Also, the darker the days get the more miracle power we are going to need just to get through each day.  The faith and patience that is built today could mean the difference between eating or not eating tomorrow, life or death who knows?  The Lord does not lead us through these sufferings for nothing.  We have to think bigger than ourselves.  There are a growing number of people today who have given up on prayer and faith.  You can be an example and a living testimony that the Lord still answers prayer and still works miracles.

When you get knocked down get back up.

Peter denied the Lord three times, did the Lord disown him?  Did Peter give up after failing?  Peter went on to successfully perform his work for the Lord.

The life of faith and belief is not a perfect line of success.  We are human beings and we are not perfect.  Along our walk we fight ourselves, the flesh, the world and the enemy.  Our walk ends up looking like a sinewave



Up, down and all around.  Sometimes we have more ups and sometimes more downs because this is a battle, this is a war.  The key is to not stay down.  We have to get up and continue to fight until we stand before the Lord.  Not until we leave this world will the fight be over.

After Your Miracle

During the fulfillment and after the actual miracle has happened in your life, the enemy actually has the nerve to ask you in your thoughts if it really happened.  For example after a person may be miraculously  cured of some disease, the enemy will come and ask you "did you really receive a healing?"  At this time at or after spiritual highs the enemy comes in with some of his worst attacks.  He does not want anything lasting following you forward.  What follows you forward?  The miracle obviously but also after you have seen your first miracle it becomes easier to believe for a second miracle.  Why?  Your faith has been built.  The enemy does not want this to happen so he comes immediately after your faith.

grace and peace